tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/postsKickstarter: Ghost Train Orchestra: Book of Rhapsodies2015-02-17T14:47:20-05:00tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/11387072015-02-17T14:47:20-05:002015-02-21T12:20:22-05:00Last show Saturday Feb 28, Book of Rhapsodies Vol. II, and Radiolab<div class="template asset" contenteditable="false" data-edit_url="/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/posts/1138707/assets/3319440/edit" data-id="3319440">
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<p>If you're in or near the NYC area, don't miss our last show with the <i>Book of Rhapsodies</i> band on Saturday February 28th before heading into the studio to record. We'll be recording <i>Book of Rhapsodies Volume II</i> and all of the music can be heard live on the 28th. This will be one of the last opportunities to hear this material live for a long while.</p><p>On this show we'll be debuting new arrangements of strange and beautiful chamber works penned by Alec Wilder, Raymond Scott, Charlie Shavers, and Reginald Foresythe, as well as a special treat...a couple lost pieces from a completely unknown bandleader and composer from the '30s and '40s recently discovered by Irwin Chusid (the man responsible for rediscovering Raymond Scott in the late '80s.) We can't wait to debut these pieces live (and tell you who it is.)</p><p>Don't miss this exciting show of all new arrangements. We play a set at 9 and the wonderful Carte Blanche closes the show.</p><p>Saturday February 28<br>Jalopy Theater<br>315 Columbia Street (Red Hook) <br>Broooklyn<br>8pm doors / 9pm show</p><p>Yours<br>Brian Carpenter &amp; the Ghost Train Orchestra</p><div class="template asset" contenteditable="false" data-edit_url="/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/posts/1138707/assets/3319448/edit" data-id="3319448">
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<p> While we're on the subject of <i>Book of Rhapsodies</i>, we should mention our recent run-in with Radiolab. Over the past 12 months, tracks from <i>Book of Rhapsodies</i> were featured over several episodes of the hugely popular NPR radio show produced by WNYC. Radiolab is an innovative radio program dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of science and philosophy, among other things.</p><p>While the weird and wonderful music from <i>Book of Rhapsodies</i> perfectly fit the quirky, inquisitive nature of the programs, the music wasn't credited. In fact, almost none of the music used in Radiolab was credited. Because much of the music played is so interesting, many fans of the show (including me) would write to ask what it was they were hearing but usually got no response. After hearing our recordings on several episodes, I contacted the programmers at WNYC directly to request crediting the music played on the show.</p><p>Thanks to many of our fans who reached out to Radiolab in support of musicians, Jad Abumrad called us to say he would not only credit Ghost Train Orchestra but make an effort to credit all of the music played on the show. In fact, Jad credits original music on the latest show from last week. Here's hoping they continue that trend.</p><p>Here are links to just a few of the best episodes where music from Book of Rhapsodies is played:</p><p><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0CCAQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.radiolab.org%2Fstory%2F9-volt-nirvana%2F&amp;ei=bbzoVNXNKoS0ggSNlIPgAg&amp;usg=AFQjCNHUQVa8KIalyk9A15FE5wOWwh4BRA&amp;sig2=9DvmziL-C0yzkPGjnxmgUQ&amp;bvm=bv.86475890,d.eXY" target="_blank">9-Volt Nirvana (6/26/14)</a></p><p><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=0CB4QFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.radiolab.org%2Fstory%2Fhello%2F&amp;ei=fbzoVNCCN4ibNoz4gegF&amp;usg=AFQjCNEPmfDZwHb6iDeCIbbF1wI8zQzF7A&amp;sig2=HUkqcqcp5UyphXOCh73ZQA&amp;bvm=bv.86475890,d.eXY" target="_blank">Hello (8/22/14)</a></p><p><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=0CB4QFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.radiolab.org%2Fstory%2Ftranslation%2F&amp;ei=jrzoVLWZCMmvggSViYTwAQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNGbgL-14-8RKUZfgGhaOZbwW7qB3w&amp;sig2=PLpKs66JAEDniu9bj4U2rw&amp;bvm=bv.86475890,d.eXY" target="_blank">Translation (10/21/14)</a></p><p><a href="http://www.radiolab.org/story/buttons-not-buttons/" target="_blank">Buttons Not Buttons (12/12/14)</a></p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/6821802013-12-02T21:48:48-05:002013-12-03T15:34:55-05:00Rave Reviews for Book of Rhapsodies<p>Hello friends and fans,</p><p>We've mailed out all of the rewards except for the t-shirts and the box sets. The box sets should be sent out later this week. The t-shirts will be a longer wait -- I apologize for the delay on those, but we will get them to you as soon as we can. </p><p>Since our release in October, <i>Book of Rhapsodies</i> has been receiving all kinds of praise. Davis Inman of Downbeat writes in the <a href="http://www.downbeat.com/defaultl.asp?sect=editorspicks201311" target="_blank">Editor's Picks</a> "Carpenter and his collaborators find plenty of new life in these old charts and 78s...down a rabbit hole to a bizarre, charming world of nearly forgotten music from the 1930s." Andrew Velez from the <a href="http://www.nycjazzrecord.com/issues/tnycjr201312.pdf" target="_blank">NYC Jazz Record</a> writes "This is an amazing ensemble, playing music like no others these days. There hasn’t been big band music as exciting as this since forever...GTO is creating its own electrifying musical gold."</p><p>Phil Freeman of <a href="http://burningambulance.com/tag/book-of-rhapsodies/" target="_blank">Burning Ambulance</a> raves "Book of Rhapsodies is out this month, and it's nuts in the best possible way. Carpenter is on a mission to make 21st Century listeners aware of just how much awesome music was being made in the early decades of the 20th...a hell of a lot of fun." <a href="http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/tag/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/" target="_blank">Lucid Culture</a> describes it as a "joyous, vaudevillian ride...with a couple additional, absolutely killer tracks from the Raymond Scott catalog."</p><p>Here are some fantastic photographs from our CD release show at SubCulture taken by Peter Gannushkin. You can see the entire set here and more of Peter's work at <a href="http://downtownmusic.net/ghost-train-orchestra-10-26-2013" target="_blank">downtownmusic.net.</a></p><div class="template asset" contenteditable="false" data-edit_url="/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/posts/682180/assets/1402974/edit" data-id="1402974">
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tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/6395332013-10-24T10:09:52-04:002013-10-24T10:29:55-04:00CD Release Party Saturday Night (and New Years Eve in a Haunted House)<p>Hi all</p><p>October means Halloween and Halloween means the Ghost Train Orchestra. You can hear our rendition of Raymond Scott's "New Years Eve in a Haunted House" in the video below, complete with werewolves and various screams of horror...</p><div class="template oembed" contenteditable="false" data-href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho8eGE0kGu0">
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<p>We are excited about Saturday night! Advance tickets are still available for our CD release party, among David Adler's top ten jazz shows in the Village Voice this month. Saturday night we'll be performing Book of Rhapsodies at a great new venue, SubCulture in Manhattan. We'll have the augmented 11-piece orchestra with bassist Michael Bates and guitarist Avi Bortnick. And we're excited to have a rare performance by the acclaimed Raymond Scott Orchestrette opening the show. <a href="http://www.subculturenewyork.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/" target="_blank">Advance tickets are available here.</a></p>GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA "Book of Rhapsodies" CD RELEASE
<p>with THE RAYMOND SCOTT ORCHESTRETTE
<br>Saturday October 26th
<br>SubCulture
<br>45 Bleecker Street
<br>New York City NY
<br>8:00pm doors / 8:30 show
<br>$15 advance / $20 doors
<br>Advance tickets here:<br><a href="http://www.ticketfly.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/" target="_blank">http://www.ticketfly.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/</a></p><p>We'll be selling a few of the below gorgeous 11x22 silkscreen posters created by James Weinberg at this show only, and holding a raffle at the door to win a free one. The posters are 11" x 22" printed on black paper with white and metallic silver ink.</p><div class="template asset" contenteditable="false" data-edit_url="/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/posts/639533/assets/1233134/edit" data-id="1233134">
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<p>See you Saturday!</p><p>Ghost Train Orchestra<br>Brian Carpenter, trumpets, voice, harmonica, conducting<br>Dennis Lichtman, clarinet<br>Andy Laster, alto saxophone, flute<br>Petr Cancura, tenor saxophone, clarinet<br>Mazz Swift, violin, vocals<br>Emily Bookwalter, viola<br>Curtis Hasselbring, trombone<br>Ron Caswell, tuba<br>Avi Bortnick, guitar<br>Cynthia Sayer, banjo<br>Michael Bates, bass<br>Rob Garcia, drums</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/6254102013-10-10T20:20:44-04:002013-10-10T21:15:13-04:00CD Release Sat Oct 26 with the Raymond Scott Orchestrette<p>Hi all,</p><p>All of you inside the country should have received at least the first shipment of your reward packages by now. Let me know if otherwise. The international shipments went out late last week.</p><p>Advance tickets are going fast for our CD release show on Saturday October 26th at a great new venue, SubCulture in Manhattan. We'll be performing <b>Book of Rhapsodies</b> with an 11-piece orchestra plus voices. We are hugely excited to have a rare performance by the acclaimed Raymond Scott Orchestrette opening the show. $15 advance tickets are available <b><a href="http://www.ticketfly.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/" target="_blank">here</a></b>. </p><p>GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA "Book of Rhapsodies" CD RELEASE<br>RAYMOND SCOTT ORCHESTRETTE<br>Saturday October 26th<br>SubCulture<br>45 Bleecker Street
<br>New York City NY
<br>8:00pm doors / 8:30 show
<br>$15 advance / $20 doors<br>Tickets here:<br><a href="http://www.ticketfly.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/" target="_blank">http://www.ticketfly.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/</a></p><p>We'll be selling a few of these gorgeous 11x22 silkscreen posters created by James Weinberg at this show only, and holding a raffle at the door to win a free one.</p><a href="http://www.ticketfly.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/" target="_blank"><div class="template asset" contenteditable="false" data-edit_url="/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/posts/625410/assets/1045558/edit" data-id="1045558">
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</a><p>The 7-piece Raymond Scott Orchestrette performs radical reinventions of the legendary composer's animated tunes. Besides such favorites as "Powerhouse" and "The Penguin", the Orchestrette features lesser-known works such as "Coming Down to Earth," "Naked City," and "A Street Corner in Paris." The Orchestrette also performs acoustic renditions of Scott's later electronic works, such as Soothing Sounds for Baby's "Little Miss Echo" — rarely heard artifacts the composer himself never performed outside the studio. </p><p> I have a connection with the Raymond Scott Orchestrette as I worked with one of its prestigious members, <b>Brian Dewan</b>, several years ago on a record called <i>Dreamland </i>with the band Beat Circus. Brian played his incredible electric zither (which he plays with the RSO) and created this incredible artwork for the cover:</p><div class="template asset" contenteditable="false" data-edit_url="/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/posts/625410/assets/1045969/edit" data-id="1045969">
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<p>Brian Dewan and Irwin Chusid (one of the key people responsible for rediscovering the work of Raymond Scott) both contributed to the three-hour radio documentary I produced last year on Raymond Scott called "Imagination and Innovation". You can now listen to the entire program <a href="http://www.briancarpenter.net/radio/imagination.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Here's a slideshow and montage of the Raymond Scott Orchestrette assembled by Jeff Winner:</p><div class="template oembed" contenteditable="false" data-href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOuac4_oYzQ">
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<p>Hope to see you there!</p><p>Brian Carpenter and the Ghost Train Orchestra</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/5896612013-09-04T20:32:43-04:002013-10-19T23:37:42-04:00NYC CD Release Saturday October 26<p>Hi all</p><p>I hope everyone has had a great summer. I am excited to announce that <i>Book of Rhapsodies</i> is finished! Twelve tracks (plus one crazy bonus track for Halloween), and a gorgeous 16-page booklet with historical photos and liner notes. I'll be contacting everyone in the next few weeks to send the music plus all the rewards. I can't wait for you all to hear it. The official release date is October 8 but you should receive your CDs a week or two in advance of that date.</p><p>We have an incredible show lined up for you all in the New York area on <b>Saturday October 26th</b> at <b>Subculture</b>, a great new venue in Manhattan. We'll be playing arrangements from the new album with the full orchestra in tow plus surprise guests! You can purchase tickets now <a href="http://www.subculturenewyork.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/" target="_blank">at this link</a>. (Those of you who got the reward for tickets will be on the guest list.) Hope to see you there. Swing by and introduce yourself!</p><p><b>Saturday October 26, 2013 <br>Ghost Train Orchestra CD Release <br>Subculture</b><br>45 Bleecker Street NYC 10012 <br>9:00pm<a href="http://www.subculturenewyork.com/event/349177-ghost-train-orchestra-cd-new-york/" target="_blank"><br>Advance tickets available here</a></p><div class="template" data-href="http://www.briancarpenter.net/images/GTO-OCT26-2013-new.jpg">
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</div><div class="template" data-href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfhj9oe79rvszp9/GTO-OCT26-2013-md2.jpg"></div><div class="template" data-href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfhj9oe79rvszp9/GTO-OCT26-2013-md2.jpg"></div><p>Here are some great photos taken by Nina Galicheva from our performance this summer at the New York Hot Jazz Festival (more <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nina.galicheva/media_set?set=a.10200769567416488.1073741879.1081723289&amp;type=1" target="_blank">here</a>):</p><div class="template" data-href="http://www.briancarpenter.net/images/bc-megaphone-nyhjf.jpg">
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</div><p>Brian Carpenter</p><div class="template" data-href="http://www.briancarpenter.net/images/mazz-nyhjf.jpg">
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</div><p>Ghost Train Orchestra</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/5119132013-06-16T21:15:28-04:002013-10-14T15:19:55-04:00Mastering, Show This WeekendThis post is for backers only. Please visit <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/posts/511913">Kickstarter.com</a> and log in to read.tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/4685452013-04-30T22:33:18-04:002013-10-14T05:50:17-04:00Mixing Wilder and Jalopy This Friday<p>Dear friends,</p><p>I am deep in the heart of mixing with our brilliant man behind-the-scenes Danny Blume in Woodstock, NY. We recorded 17 pieces last year and we are whittling those down for this record. Many of them as filtered through the Ghost Train Orchestra are very strange! But I think you will enjoy inhabiting these worlds. We are trying to place each of these pieces in their own particular world. They all have a surreal vibe to them, especially with the mad, mad choir in there. </p><div class="template" data-href="http://www.briancarpenter.net/images/wilder-with-children.jpg">
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</div><p>The last one remaining is a beautiful piece by Alec Wilder called "The Children Met The Train". This one reminded me very much of the early Disney animated film scores for "Bambi" and "Peter Pan". Frank Churchill was the composer behind many of these Disney films from the 1940s, which included lavish choir arrangements. I wonder if Churchill was an admirer of Wilder's early Octets. Wilder never had children but he was very inspired by them. Maurice Sendak, who collaborated with Wilder, is another artist who never had children of his own, but was so inspired by them to create beautiful and memorable artwork. </p><div class="template" data-href="https://i1.createsend1.com/ei/r/DA/DB6/CED/csimport/MAY3-md.112711.jpg">
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</div><p>For those in or near NYC, I want to tell you about this show on Friday night. We are performing a rare show with the fantastic Baby Soda band opening at the beautiful Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn. This place is a bit off the beaten path (315 Columbia Street in Red Hook), but it is a magical room. Just find your way there and thank me later. There is absolutely no room like it in NYC. Oh, and they now serve great food next door. </p><p> This Friday we'll be debuting a few new pieces, including an arrangement of a recently discovered lost recording from Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten, originally recorded in May of 1929. In 2011, a 10" acetate disc was found in someone's basement with some curious etchings on it, including the victor code BVE-53600. This was either the master or a test pressing. According to Victor ledgers, there are two takes of this piece called "Mo'Lasses". The first take is the one found recently, which was marked "Master/destroy". There are many unanswered questions. We don't know why it was marked destroy, unless the band felt the 1st take wasn't a good performance. (Fortunately for us, it was never actually destroyed, because the performance is incredible.) There is a 2nd take floating around out there somewhere which is marked "Hold/destroy". Neither take was ever issued publicly.</p><p>Charlie Johnson led one of the great bands of the late 1920s at Small's Paradise Club located in Harlem on 135th. At that time Small's was a rival of the famous Cotton Club and it is said to have had waitresses who brought trays of bootleg liquor to your table while dancing the Charleston. It's an incredible piece of music and has probably never been performed since 1929 at Small's Paradise. We're excited to bring this piece (and many others) to life again for you all Friday night.</p><p>Yours,<br>Brian Carpenter &amp; the Ghost Train Orchestra</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/3971442013-02-01T14:29:29-05:002013-10-13T15:50:42-04:00The Book of Rhapsodies ChoirThis post is for backers only. Please visit <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/345148287/ghost-train-orchestra-book-of-rhapsodies/posts/397144">Kickstarter.com</a> and log in to read.tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/3592372012-11-29T22:10:53-05:002012-11-29T22:31:00-05:00Thank you! (Now the fun begins...)<p>Well, we did it. Thank you again! I couldn't have done this without you all. Thank you for all the enthusiasm and support. (And it was great to meet some of you in person last weekend at Jalopy!)</p><p>Now the real fun begins! This train is leaving the station, and we've already plunged into the details of the choir arrangements and recording. We'll be recording instruments and voices again in December and January, and I'll be posting stories and updates here for backers only, including some behind-the-scenes videos, so stay tuned! I'll also be sending out information on shows and exciting goings-on to our <a href="http://ghosttrainorchestra.com/sign-up.html" target="_blank">mailing list</a>. Please, stay in touch one way or another! (Here are our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Carpenters-Ghost-Train-Orchestra/20456574273" target="_blank">Facebook </a>&amp; <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/bwcarpenter" target="_blank">Twitter </a>links.)</p><p>It may be a while before I can send you the recording of <i>Book of Rhapsodies</i>, so be patient with me on that front. But the rest of your well-deserved gifts should come sooner, so watch for survey emails coming your way. I can't wait to share these rewards with you all. </p><p>Gratefully yours, </p><p>Brian Carpenter and the Ghost Train Orchestra</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:Post/3568422012-11-26T21:42:51-05:002013-10-13T07:20:58-04:00The Final Days! (And Kirby's Concept)<p>Hi friends</p><p>We are in the final days of our campaign. With the initial $5000, we're able to cover the remaining overdubs and initial mixing of Book of Rhapsodies. This allows us to use the recording studio we want and secure some much-needed extra time in the studio to record the choir!</p><p>The initial $5000 was just a fraction of our total costs. We're now beginning to chip away at the money we need for the post-production costs (mixing, mastering, and manufacturing.) Part of that cost includes the royalty fees associated with the original compositions, which for just 12 compositions would run upwards of $1000 for an initial manufacturing run! These royalty fees go to the publishing companies associated with Alec Wilder, Reginald Foresythe, Charlie Shavers, and Raymond Scott. We're hoping to get up to at least $6000 to cover the royalty fees. If we shoot past that, then we can start chipping away at the remaining mixing and post-production work.</p><h1>On Kirby's Concept</h1><p>I wanted to write a bit about the John Kirby band as he led one of the bands we're exploring here. John Kirby was a bass player who, after a run with the heralded Fletcher Henderson orchestra, started his own sextet in NYC at the Onyx Club on the famed 52nd Street in the late 1930s. They played a unique kind of swing. They played a light, refined swing but it was very in-the-pocket and danceable. At a time when all the other jazz bands on 52nd street were playing loudly, Kirby's band dared to swing softly and more intimately (and more intensely.) And their repertoire included some quirky, strange, and often beautiful arrangements of classical works by composers like Dvorak, Beethoven, and Grieg for jazz sextet. In other words, this was not your typical jazz band. <b>The Kirby band was a concept band. </b>The word on the street was you couldn't hear them on the street. If you wanted to hear it, you had to go inside...thus undoubtedly part of the reason for their long stint at the Onyx! </p><p>The real star of Kirby's band was trumpeter Charlie Shavers who displayed incredible virtuosity and control on his instrument and beyond that, was a brilliant composer and arranger. Shavers and Kirby posing in front of the "O" for Onyx Club on 52nd Street:</p><div class="template" data-href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WFU1z0D2UFM/TPq5StAgUnI/AAAAAAAAEMk/Id0u8by-2oI/s400/JohnKirby-Onyx.JPG">
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</div><p>Shavers would become the chief architect of Kirby's style and repertory, composing beautifully expansive works such as "Dawn on the Desert" and this unique jazz arrangement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, Movement 2. which I rearranged for orchestra, adding strings, low brass, and guitar. I love the band's performance on this one...</p><div class="template oembed" contenteditable="false" data-href="http://vimeo.com/40729355">
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<p>And then there was Louis C. Singer, the other main arranger Kirby hired for his band. Taking a cue from Shavers, Singer wrote some lovely arrangements of classical music for jazz sextet, including "Charlie's Prelude", which is Chopin's "Prelude in E Minor". I chose to rearrange this one as well for orchestra. I took the top (which is Chopin's melody) and gave Curtis the refrain. Petr, Andy, and Dennis shout out Singer's gorgeous middle section. Shavers and Singer allowed for a huge potential in dynamics in these pieces for the Kirby sextet. Arranging them for a large band like the Ghost Train Orchestra, I found we could really tap into those dynamics and emphasize them even further.</p><div class="template oembed" contenteditable="false" data-href="https://vimeo.com/53911296">
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<p>Many thanks to John Tomma and Meghan Frederico for shooting and editing these fantastic live videos. </p><p>And thank YOU again! (You're going to really love these rewards. I can't wait to share them with you all...)</p><p><b>Our Kickstarter campaign ends Thursday at 9PM EST. Then we celebrate!</b></p><p>Yours,<br>Brian Carpenter and the Ghost Train Orchestra</p>